It was a cold, lonely night in Moscow when Zythe To’lac, my sire, contacted me from an airport and told me to find and teach a neonate that he’d embraced that night. He said he’d found her beaten and left for dead, giving her the Kiss to save her life. Problems in Chicago had forced him to return as soon as possible, so he sent me to find her.
Ta’jid Noviev was sitting in the morgue of a small, ill-maintained hospital, having no idea what had happened, or why she was there. I took her to the house I’d been living out of, and explained about her embrace, educated her in what she now was, taught her the Six Traditions, and showed the young Gangrel how to use her new-found Disciplines.
Working as a diplomatic attaché for a Chinese Communist official (who, in actuality was a 9th generation Ventrue working to bring down the Communist government from the inside), I had to return to Hong Kong in mid-October. Zythe sent Ta’jid a plane ticket to the United States, and set her up taking care of a small antique business he owned in a small city outside of Philadelphia; Swarthmore.
I joined my sire in Chicago in late December, and since then, Ta’jid and I had been speaking at least twice a week. Soon she was telling me of a Sabbat take-over, and Zythe asked her if they need him or myself to come down and help. She said that they had a good handle on things; powerful Kindred, and a brave Prince. We last heard from Ta’jid a month ago, and concerned, my sire sent me to find her.
A rat, who was friendly with some Nosferatu, told me that there was a large Kindred gathering in the south of the city. So, under cover of darkness, and wary of Sabbat, I made my way to the house.
Entering behind an annoyed looking man, I was welcomed and ushered into a large room where others were milling around. Scanning, the room, I looked for Ta’jid, but she was not there. A priest approached me, and though I tensed for a moment, fearing his True Faith, I was put at ease seeing that he was not breathing.
"Good evening, Father."
"Good evening, my child," he replied.
"If you pardon my asking, is this a party? I wasn’t really invited, but I’m new to the city and thought I should seek out my people."
"Well," spoke the young priest, "you might call this a bit of a party; two of our Ventrue are getting married."
That surprised me, I mean, I’d heard of marriages among Kindred, but they had happened long ago, and were usually between Princes of rival cities. Still, if everyone was coming, I had a good chance of running into my clan-sister. The priest moved over to speak with the groom, a well-dressed, intelligent looking Ventrue, and I turned to see a familiar face.
A large man, leading a little guy by a leash, walked into the room. It was Pierce of Brujah, a brave man who’d fought in the Detroit Invasion and had helped drive out the Sabbat. My sire had also been there defending the city, and had entertained Pierce once when the man was in Chicago.
"Pardon, but you are Pierce, hero of Detroit, are you not?" I asked.
"Yes, I am. Rover, stop that!"
The little guy, Rover, who had been sniffing at the corner, was straining against his leash and barking at a distinguished man who’d just come in. Seeing my confusion, Pierce mouthed the word ‘Malkavian’ to me and continued to shout at his ‘dog’. The man walked up to me.
"You’re new in the city, aren’t you?"
"Yes."
"What clan? Oh, don’t worry, we’re in Elyseium, and there aren’t any mortals around, yet," he said.
"Gangrel. My name’s Eternus Hyperion." I replied.
"Lord Ian of Toredor. What brings you to Swarthmore?"
"Well, I’m looking for a member of my clan, she’s sort of my sister actually, Ta’jid Noviev, do you know where she is?"
Lord Ian grimaced, and in that instant, I knew that where ever she was, it wasn’t good. "She’s kind of dead. There was a Sabbat attack about a month ago."
He walked away to speak with others who were streaming into the room, but I barely registered it. My sister was 27 when embraced over the summer, and I, though nearly 70 (I was embraced at age 25 in 1953), felt like we had truly been kin. I’d taught her everything she knew about our people and our clan. How could she be gone? How did she die? I knew I should have come down when she told me about the Sabbat.
A man, and from the way he was dressed I garnered that he was a Malkavian, was striding down the hallway and talking to himself. I went up and introduced myself. Call me strange, but I admire Malks for their ability to see things which we cannot. This one was the famous Lord Brendon, who traveled the world teaching the new of his clan their ways. His left arm was bound in a sling, and for the first time, I noticed that many of the people in the back room were injured in some way.
"Great Cain, what happened here?" I said softly.
"I’ll tell you what went on, I’ll tell you what we suffered though!" spoke a man with a harsh voice, a lot of hair, and legs that ended a bit above the knee, "The Sabbat happened, blew up a house, killed a whole bunch of our people, and left me like this!"
I was about to ask him if Ta’jid had died there, when people came into the back room and started directing us all out to the backyard. I followed and sat down on one of the wooden benches facing a gazebo and what I assumed was the ‘alter’. A gray cat with intelligent eyes stalked among the seats, hunting for small night creatures. I Called out to him, and he approached, but hissed and fled when Rover ran out the back door and chased him over a fence.
When we were all seated, the wedding procession started out. The priest came out first, then the groom, usher, best man, maid of honor, bridesmaids, and followed by the Prince leading the bride. It was a nice ceremony, and Father Buck read the wedding rite from the book Rites Of Darkness, though in the middle, a large man appeared on the bench beside me, and an extremely tall, powerful looking woman stepped out of the Shadows and into the isle.
"Greetings, I am Gabrielle Gevon of Ventrue," and she took a place of honor at the alter, bring with her two beautiful glasses for the exchange of blood.
The name sounded familiar, and while the wedding continued, I tried to place it. I’d heard my sire mention it, but in what context? Of course! The Ventrue Justicar! She’s 5th generation, very powerful, and I’ve heard she has a pure white aura when scanned. Holy dragon, Gabrielle Jivonne is a big gun in the Kindred world, whatever went on here must have been bad, if she’s in the city.
After the ceremony, we all went back inside. I met the groom, William Blair, and his bride, Yvonne D’Nord-Blair, and congratulated them, as well as Father Buck, for a beautiful ritual. Many of us were sitting in the back room when a large man, I assumed he was the Prince, came in, pointed at me and a short, though dynamic seeming woman, and told us to meet in the dining room.
There, I found Pierce, Lord Ian, Lord Brendon, William, and a woman who sat on the floor against the wall. The Prince, who was Lord Tyler Nightshade of Toredor, entered and sat at one end of the table while the Justicar took the other end. We went around the table and introduced ourselves to her, and I learned that the woman who sat across from me was Lady Meredith of Tremere, a person who’d Ta’jid had been on good terms with, and had spoken of to me.
Gabrielle started the meeting, and chastised the Prince and Primogen for their mis-handling of the Sabbat problem. She covered the table with pictures of mortal and Kindred alike that had suffered gruesome fates at the hands of our enemies. She ushered in the large man who’d appeared at the wedding, and told us that he was a Lasombra antitribu, and that he wished to live peacefully in the city. Then, he left, and the Justicar informed us that there was also a Tzimice antitribu about and she should be watched.
Apparently, on the night of the explosion, the city’s Deputy Enforcer, Nick Gunner of Ventrue, had been assassinated by three Malkavians, one dead, one with no legs, and the other gone. Lord Brendon pulled out a cracked mirror, the sight of which shocked many of the group and terrified the Ravnos, who cowered under the table until coaxed out by the Justicar. Waving the mirror, he raved that someone from an alternate universe had taken possession of his body and it was he that helped to kill Gunner.
That out of the way, the Justicar warned us to be careful when dealing with the Sabbat, not to kill each other, and not to break Elyseium, then dismissed us. It was my first night in the city of Swarthmore, and already I’d attended a wedding, found out my sister was dead, and been appointed to Primogen. I hadn’t been formally presented to the Prince, but assumed that there were no other Gangrel around.
That problem soon righted itself when the Prince approached me and bid me walk with him. I told him my name, and why I had come to his domain. Finally, I asked him if he’d been there at the explosion, and had seen how Ta’jid had died.
"Yes, I did. She was standing in the room where the explosives had been tossed, and when we were plunged into darkness, she threw herself in front me, absorbing some of the blast while I escaped with Celerity."
Tyler was interrupted by Gabrielle, who wished to speak with him. I bowed politely and turned to walk away, when she called me back, and offered her condolences, telling me that my sister had died bravely. That on my mind, I went into the front room, where I found Lord Brendon and a confused girl, doubtless another Malkavian. When I asked them if they’d known Ta’jid, the girl said that she had, so I invited her to walk with me, and tell what she knew.
Catherine, for that was her name, told me that Ta’jid had tried to clean up the name of our clan in the city, for it had been tarnished by deceitful Gangrel, antitribu, and traitors. I was indeed glad to hear that, for my sister had always believed in honor and decency. Knowing what I did, it was time to complete my sad duty.
Walking into the back room, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my card number. The operator connected me to Chicago, and I dialed the number of my sire’s headquarters. Dominic, my young ghoul and Gangrel-in-training, answered, and I bid him bring Zythe to the phone.
Trying to maintain control, I told him the situation; the whereabouts of our friend, and how she died. Zythe immediately blamed himself, saying that we should have investigated sooner. I tried to calm my lord down, telling him that by all accounts, Ta’jid’s death had not been in vain. We spoke for quite a while, and I told him that the Ventrue Justicar was in the city, and that I had been appointed to the Primogen.
While on the phone, I had been pacing back and forth in the back room, which had grown crowded. Zythe was telling me not to worry or blame myself when Gabrielle stealthy walked up to me.
"What seems to be the problem, you sound so upset?"
"Um, my sire’s on the phone and…"
The Justicar took my cell phone and began speaking to Zythe, I don’t know what they said, but in a few minutes she handed it back to me. My lord put Dominic on, who was upset that I was in possible Sabbat territory and almost certain danger. He insisted that he was coming to Swarthmore, and it took me almost five minutes to get him off the phone. In the end, however, my sire decided that it would be best if I stayed in the city for a while.
To occupy myself, I roamed the house talking with people. Apparently, many lives had been lost in the Sabbat attack, and no one knew if there were still any of our enemies around. While talking with Adam, the Malkavian, who lost his legs, I saw Catherine run out the back door, clearly upset, I ran after her, but almost at once became lost in the beauty of the night. I went into Earthmeld, communing with the land, the boundless wilderness of the outdoors.
Coming out, I felt the first few drops of what soon became a downpour. Rain is wonderful, but I didn’t want to ruin the clothes I had on, so I retreated back into the house. Walking into the hallway, I was stopped by a young, naïve-looking man in a gray polar-fleece jacket.
"Excuse me, I don’t know you," he said.
"Oh, well, my name is Eternus, Eternus Hyperion," and I shook hands with him.
"Hi, my name’s Jonathan, are you a Gangrel?"
"Um, yeah," I stammered, a bit taken aback.
"Neat. Is there a way for you to make me into a Gangrel too?" he asked.
"Well, what clan are you?"
"I’m a ghoul," he replied.
Holy dragon, this would be complicated. "OK, Jonathan, who’s ghoul are you?"
"Lady Meredith," spoke the young one.
I nodded inwardly, for now it was very complicated. I’ve known many Tremere in my time, and there are some good ones, but they are few and far between. Understandably, I didn’t want to get on her bad side, though Ta’jid had always spoken well of Lady Meredith. I’d have to speak with her.
"Come, walk with me while we find your mistress," I told him, then asked Jonathan to tell me why he wanted to be a Gangrel. The boy said that he’d always liked the wilderness, and recounted how, on a camping trip, he’d braved a thunderstorm that had inspired great fear in the rest of his party, how he lied about his age to get into the army so he could have more chances to spend time outside, and how well he got along with animals.
We found Lady Meredith speaking with Pierce, and she excused herself, but not before Pierce asked if he could talk with me when not occupied. I agreed, then explained the situation to the Tremere. She listened carefully, then, when I had finished, asked to council alone with Jonathan, and then give me her decision later.
On my way to find Pierce, I walked through the front room, and a Ravnos came through the door with his right arm duct-tapped to his back. The Justicar followed him in and said, "Don’t do it again.", so I quickly made my exit, not wanting to get involved with anything unpleasant. I saw Pierce in the next room, but since dawn was not far off, we decided to speak at the next gathering.
Tired, I said polite partings to everyone I’d met, and left the house. Returning to my sire’s antique shop in the business district, I unlocked the door to the apartment upstairs. It was so full of my sister’s presence that I nearly broke down in tears. The sun was nearly ready to rise, so I made my way to a closet in the bedroom(the room having been fortified against the burning sunlight), and made myself comfortable in the lotus position, and grateful for rest, slept.
Footnote
Wedding Benediction
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